Quite often after seeking out
or being led to the worlds greatest mountain railway, the Scenic Mount Lowe
Railway, one finds themselves gathering artifacts, memorabilia and any
information they can find out about the place so as to gain a greater insight
into its popularity and fame. It is a great passion for collectors across the
nation to scour the marketplaces and find tiny treasures to place in glass cases
or to adorn a shelf. They are all reminders of the late great past of this
wonderful place and in some ways we become part of the essence of Mt. Lowe. Mt
Lowe, which without Thaddeus Sobieski Constantine Lowe would not have existed as
we have come to know it.

So,
for this writer, aside from the silvery spoons and glass treasures that I seek
out, there are also the paper treasures or paper trails as I call them. The
little scraps and clippings found in newspapers, journals, and histories that
help to fill in areas of Thaddeus Lowes life, and help us to understand and
know him and the railway better.

Ninety days to spend on a project doesn't seem like very long at all, but when one is building the largest hot air balloon known to man the time hardly seems sufficient. Yet al the experience Thaddeus Lowe had gathered in his 27 years put this young man at the forefront of American ballooning. The goal was to cross the Atlantic Ocean and Lowe wasn't the only one trying to do it.

Old enough to be his father, John Wise had some following for being a pioneer balloonist and with his ship, the "Atlantic", to many it seemed all too possible. Since the mid 1930's, Wise had accomplished nearly 250 ascensions, and with his latest balloon being tested, Thaddeus Lowe appeared to be only a minor annoyance to the seasoned flyer. With fellow balloonist John LaMountain and millionaire O.A. Gager as co-backers of the project, the trip across the ocean seemed just a flight away. Not only had these gentlemen backed the "Atlantic", together they had broken a record for the day by flying from St. Louis, Missouri to Jefferson County, New York...a trip of about 800 miles in only 19 hours.

It's
fall, and the weather is cooler. You can relax just a bit now that the
oppressive heat of summer is over, but you know that winter is coming soon.
For most of the Angeles National Forest, that means that soon there will be
snow.

Seasons.
Changes. The mountains are a dynamic interplay of all the forces of
nature. And the more you enter the forest, the more you explore the
trails, the more you consider what it takes to sustain life anywhere, you cannot
but be amazed and fascinated that Native Americans once resided throughout the
forest.

First
of all I would like to thank all of you for your patience regarding the
tardiness of the fall issue of the Echoes, you can be assured that as soon
as I was able it was tackled with the fervor of past issues. It is my
intention to bring to you in this issue the beginnings of TSC Lowes
life as best I can with the limited resources available and wading through
as much of the misinformation as possible to bring you the most accurate
report I can gather. I did managed to find 11 different sources however
critical records of the County of Coos in New Hampshire were destroyed by
fire. With the help of resources and descendants the Land-Sea Discovery
Group will continue to expand upon knowledge of the life of Professor
Thaddeus Lowe and the Scenic Mt. Lowe Railway.